


Just Remember I Love You

by FeelingFredly



Category: Teen Wolf (TV), teen wolf - Fandom
Genre: Childhood Memories, Derek Hale Deserves Nice Things, Fluff, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Song Lyrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-28
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:33:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25572892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeelingFredly/pseuds/FeelingFredly
Summary: Stiles pulled up the playlists and took pictures of them...  as he scrolled through, he saw one labeled M&D's song and he was like, Who's M?  Derek and someone had a song?Stiles can't stand the thought of Derek and some stranger having a song.  And a cheesy 70's song at that!
Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski
Comments: 6
Kudos: 180





	Just Remember I Love You

**Author's Note:**

> This fic owes its existence to Sirius XM's Yacht Rock Radio, and Firefall's amazing 70's classic, _Just Remember I Love You _.__

Talia loved music. She wasn't a great singer but was always humming and singing and dancing around. She and her husband met at a disco night, of all things, and they were often seen dancing to a scratchy radio in the kitchen late at night after the kids were supposed to be in bed.

There was a song called **_Just Remember I Love You_** that she loved. It was "their song" because--while wolf life was nice, it wasn't perfect and damn if it wouldn't be better sometimes if there were wolf antidepressants because even Alpha wolves get the blues--when things were more than she could bear, Paul, her husband, would sing it to her.

After the pups came along Laura always heard daddy singing it to mommy, and one day when she was sad she came and demanded the "make it better song" so, Talia sang it to her as they danced around the kitchen and like magic, it made everything better.

It became a tradition--the thing to do when someone had hurt feelings, or a broken heart, or was stressed at school--someone would sing _Just remember I love you, and it'll be alright... Just remember I love you, more than I can say._

After the fire, Laura tried to sing it to Derek and they both fell apart because nothing _was_ ever going _to be alright_ again.

They listened to other songs together, but not that one... never that one

Time passed until one day Stiles Stilinski let himself into Derek's loft. The wolf was puttering around the kitchen with his battered old smart phone in a coffee cup, letting the cup act as a sound box so there was this echoey music drifting through the loft and Stiles was surprised because this was Camaro guy, with his scruff and leather jacket, listening to 70's soft rock? nah... that's just nuts, dude. But, before he can say anything, Derek was scrambling to turn the phone off and practically ripped Stiles's head off for just barging in without calling first or at least knocking.

A couple months later Stiles was sidelined with a jacked-up knee and was sitting in the Camaro while the others were fighting the MOTW _right over there_ and he was bored and antsy and freaking out, so he poked through everything in the car and there was Derek's phone, so thank God he could at least listen to music or something while his friends were _maybe getting eviscerated_ and he couldn't _do anything_ , and there are only two playlists on the damn thing--of course Derek doesn't have something as useful as Spotify--and one of them was your typical 00's angry music, and the other... was fucking _yacht rock_ , man.

So, when Derek and Isaac pile back in the car Stiles is ramped up on fear and relief, full of asshol-itude and was like, "You need to join the modern age, Sourwolf... The youngest song on your phone can legally drink." and Derek pushed back with, "What, you jealous because you're still getting by on a lousy fake I.D. and All-Star gets laid more than you do?"

But Derek takes the phone and shoves it into his pocket like it's something precious... and Stiles, who is an asshole, but not a stupid asshole, realized that there was something important on that phone.

Derek never took it into fights.

Derek never put it anywhere that it could get hurt.

Derek had another _fucking phone._

So... what was the deal with that one?

He couldn't let the idea go--it ate at him. Why the two phones? Why the freaking beat up second-gen piece of crap that should have been put out to pasture years ago?

So, the next time he was alone and saw the phone he grabbed it--the sucker doesn't even have a lock screen--and he called himself. At least that way he can get the number, right? But it didn’t come up as Derek Hale on his caller ID. It came up as _Laura Hale_.

Which made a strange sort of sense. If it was Laura's phone he'd keep it for sentimental purposes, right? Holy fuck, the dude's been paying for his sister's phone the whole time, keeping some little piece of her alive. There are probably messages on that fucker from before the fire.

He's more careful about the phone after that.

He didn't stop watching, though. He popped into the loft unannounced more often. Offered to go make coffee for anyone--everyone--so he could get a little alone time with the phone.

He finally got it one day when Derek was in the shower, so covered in nixie guts that he didn't stop on the way up to grab it like he normally did, and Stiles pulled up the playlists and took pictures of them... and as he scrolled through, he saw one labeled _M &D's song_ and he was like, _Who's M?_ Derek and someone had a song?

It hit him, harder than he could admit comfortably. He knew about Paige, and Kate, and Jennifer, and even Braeden, because... well, they all knew about them, but there's an _M_ now... someone Derek cared enough about to have a song with, and fuck, Derek wasn't supposed to be a romantic... Stiles was a romantic. Stiles wanted to woo someone with flowers and candlelight dinners and in-jokes and a song they could play at their wedding. Derek's just distance and angry eyebrows and that little bit of respect that leaked through occasionally, and _gratitude_ , because fuck, yeah, that's what everyone wanted from the hottest thing they've ever seen, _gratitude._ He'd pick the slamming up against things over the fucking gratitude every damn day because Derek should know that he didn't got to bat for him because he wanted thanks, he did it because he cared for the bitter bastard, okay? At least when he was angry he looked alive, invested, and he was LOOKING AT STILES and actually _seeing_ him.

Yeah, so bad attention was better than no attention, sue him.

Later when he was alone he pulled up Spotify and loaded the song, and well... it wasn't what he expected at all. 

_When there's so much trouble that you wanna cry_

_The world has crumbled and you don't know why_

_When your hopes are fading and they can't be found_

_Dreams have left you waiting, friends have let you down_

He listened to the song three times in a row, and by halfway through the third he was wiping away tears, because fuck that's... well, that was a lot.

"It was my mom and dad's song."

The window--the fucking window--was open, and Stiles had been so wrapped up in the song that he hadn't heard Derek and his super-secret wolfy breaking and entering. Stiles was instantly up and deflecting--he didn't mean to pry (he totally did) and what was Derek doing there, and didn't he ever knock, and fuck use the door, and everything he'd ever said when one of the wolves had broken in while he was jerking off, but somehow being caught listening to this seemed even more personal to him.

He couldn't imagine how Derek felt

Derek just stared at him as he stormed and when he wound down and scrubbed the evidence of tears away Stiles just sagged under the scrutiny. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I just... I wanted..."

"You wanted to know.” Derek said, less antagonism in his voice than he had a right to. “You always want to know. That's sort of _Stiles distilled_."

They stared at each other for a little before Stiles waded in with an apology. He at least owed the wolf that much. "I didn't mean to stir up bad memories, Der. I _am_ sorry."

Derek looked a little distant, like his mind wasn't actually there in the moment, and Stiles bet he looked a lot like that when he was thinking about his mom.

"Not bad,” he said finally. “Just hard sometimes. Good memories, though. It's why I can't let that--" he waved at the computer that was still playing the song on loop--"go."

Stiles nodded. "I get that. I feel that way about my mom's recipes. I can't cook them for dad, but I'll bake the cookies or the bread and remember cooking with her, and then end up giving the stuff away. Mr. Abernathy next door loves it when I get sentimental."

They sat like that for a while until the quiet got to be too much and Derek took off again, leaving Stiles with a little bit more knowledge about the older man, and a lot to think about.

He called Cora the next day. She cried when he told her what happened, and when he apologized to another Hale for stirring things up she yelled at him for hurting her brother, and yelled at the Universe a little, and then cried again as she explained the significance of the song. When she calmed down she asked him to email her the playlist because she was too young to remember the names of the songs and she wanted to listen to them again, and if they cried a little more at that, well neither of them was going to tell anyone.

But… now he knew. He knew what the song meant, what it was for, and he had a plan. It might not be a great plan, but hell, he's had worse.

He didn’t make a move for weeks. He wasn't stupid, and he knew Derek wasn’t either.

He started by playing some 70's music around the house--even getting a laugh out of his dad as he busted out " _Do the hustle!_ " in the kitchen one day as he danced around making a casserole for pack night.

"Your mom and I used to go out dancing all the time.” The sheriff actually smiled at the memory. “She could dance up a storm. You get that from her."

And just like that Stiles had another thing to thank Derek for....

Finally, it was time. He'd been spending more time with the wolf, his spark finding an anchor in the alpha, and he could feel it developing into something like a real pack bond. Derek clearly felt it as well, his shoulders relaxing every time Stiles would get close enough for him to bump against him, subtly scenting his new packmate.

Then it wasn't so subtle. A hand on the head, Stiles rubbing Derek's shoulder, a scruff of the back of the neck... and time. Sitting. Talking. Snarking. But time spent together, alone or with the others, but always together.

And then it was his birthday. 21. Finally legal in all the ways, and finally ready to make that last leap of faith. The ladies at Jungle were thrilled to help, and when everyone asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said "pack night at the club--no excuses" and they gave in, because as much as he was an asshole, he was their asshole

They got there, dressed in their club gear and black leather coats, and Stiles pulled up in his Jeep and rolled out wearing a shirt unbuttoned to his navel that showcased his toned torso, a big gold pendant he'd enchanted the month before for a protection spell but that looked like one of the terrible 70's zodiac sign necklaces, and skin tight pants that flared out into truly terrible bell bottoms. "Oh, didn't I tell you? It's a theme night! Disco, Babies! And I'm the Dancing Queen!"

The pack groaned and then laughed, following the nutcase they'd adopted into the club, listening to the thrum of the music and saying, "Fuck it." before heading to the bar for drinks that their spark would add a little kick to so they could feel a buzz for the night.

Derek gave him a long look, and then another, but just sighed and nodded as Stiles pulled him out onto the packed dance floor.

"Thanks for coming, Sourwolf." He made the appropriate noises, and Derek swayed against him, surprisingly--or not surprisingly, the dude was physicality embodied--a good dancer, and not shy with the hips once he got going.

"Happy Birthday, Stiles," he said, bending down to speak directly into the spark’s ear, "this is the only gift you're getting."

Stiles looked at him from under his lashes and smiled. "It's the only thing I wanted, Der. Really."

They finished their dance and then his best Lady of the Jungle, Brianna Cracker, walked up to the microphone--"We have a special birthday boy in our midst tonight--hey there Little Red, looking good!--" the crowd cheered and Stiles wriggled around in Derek's hold to look at the stage, flailing his arms a little at the attention.

She went on, "He had a special request so he could dance with his boo--or his boo-to-be if he doesn't fuck this up tonight--so everyone wrap their arms around their special someone's and get ready for something slow and sweet. Happy Birthday, Red! We love you!"

And then… the song played.

Derek froze _, so_ like a deer in headlights that Stiles had to bite his lips not to make a joke, but now wasn't the time for jokes. He held out his hand hopefully, and Derek finally thawed enough to take it, wrapping Stiles in an almost painfully tight hug.

"Give me a chance, Sourwolf?" Stiles asked quietly. He felt Derek's head nod once against his neck, and Stiles felt a knot in his gut unravel. 

It was going to be alright.

**Author's Note:**

> "Just Remember I Love You"
> 
> When it all goes crazy and the thrill is gone  
> The days get rainy and the nights get long  
> When you get that feelin' you were born to lose  
> Staring at your ceiling thinkin' of your blues
> 
> When there's so much trouble that you wanna cry  
> The world has crumbled and you don't know why  
> When your hopes are fading and they can't be found  
> Dreams have left you waiting, friends have let you down
> 
> Just remember I love you  
> And it'll be alright  
> Just remember I love you  
> More than I can say  
> Maybe then your blues will fade away
> 
> When you need a lover and you're down so low  
> Start to wonder, but you never know  
> When it feels like sorrow is your only friend  
> Knowing that tomorrow you'll feel this way again
> 
> When the blues come callin' at the break of dawn  
> Rain keeps fallin', but the rainbow's gone  
> When you feel like crying but the tears won't come  
> When your dreams are dyin', when you're on the run
> 
> Just remember I love you  
> And it'll be alright  
> Just remember I love you  
> More than I can say  
> Just remember I love you  
> And it'll be alright  
> It'll be alright  
> It'll be alright  
> It'll be alright


End file.
